of all the insults He endured;-intreat Him, by the meekness with which He bore them, to give you strength to bear these passing annoyances, which have fallen to your lot as His sworn follower. "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for My Sake.” I

Now as to what you ask me. You are quite right in looking upon the annual review of one's soul as intended to supply the defects of one's ordinary confessions, and to excite us to deeper humility; still more to lead us to renew, not our good intentions, but such good resolutions as we require to correct those habits, inclinations, and other matters which most frequently cause us to sin.

It is certainly more desirable that this review should be made before the same Priest who has received your general confession, in order that, taking the cir cumstances of both into due consideration, he may guide you as to what resolutions you most require to make. But when, as in your case, this cannot be, it is well to go to any other wise and good confessor who may be at hand.

As to your second difficulty, I answer that it is not necessary in this review to note the specific number Matt. v. 3, II.

or the trifling details of your faults. It will suffice to say generally what your chief failings, and the cause of your wanderings, have been; not so much how many times you have fallen, but whether you are very prone to fall. For instance, you need not examine how many times you have given way to anger-perhaps that would be hard to say, but you should simply acknowledge whether you are subject to bad temper, how long it lasts, whether it is violent and sharp, and what are the occasions which the most frequently excite it; as for instance, amusements, pride, haughtiness, obstinacy, depression-(I am only giving you an illustration of my meaning.) In this way you will be able to make your little review without taxing your time or your memory very severely.

As to your third question, I would say that some falls, even into mortal sin, so long as they are not deliberate or caused by indifference, do not necessarily prove that you have made no progress in a devout life. You lose your devotion when guilty of mortal sin, but you regain it through the first sincere repentance to which you attain, that is, when the soul has not been long steeped in sin. It is for this reason that such annual reviews are so very useful to weakly souls their first good resolutions have done somewhat; the second and third time they will be strengthened and confirmed; and at last. by dint of frequent

renewal, they will become stedfast. Only do not be disheartened, but face your own frailty with holy humility; confess it, ask that it may be forgiven, and seek God's Help for the future. Ever yours.

[836.]

CLV

TO A WIDOW. ON HER HUSBAND'S DEATH.

MY DEAR MADAM,

I cannot tell you how deeply I feel for your sorrow. I loved your dear husband with a most special affection, for many reasons, but chiefly for his goodness and piety. One feels that in these times, when there is such a dearth of holy souls among the highest classes of society, such a loss is very great to the world at large. But, dear lady, we must accept the conditions of our present life—a brief, mortal life; and death, which has the mastery over it, has no set rules: he seizes one or another, so to say, without choice or plan-good and evil, old and young. Happy they who ever live so expecting death that they look through it to the eternal life which knows no ending!

The dear one we have lost was of these; and that alone may comfort us-for in a little while, more or less, we shall follow him, and the ties and companionships begun here will be knit again, never more to be

loosed. So let us be patient, and wait bravely till the hour of our departure comes ; let us go on loving those we have loved so dearly here, no less where they now are; and let us do that which they would have wished, and do still wish, for very love of them.

Most unquestionably, my dear friend, the foremost wish of your husband would be that you should not give way over-much to your grief at his loss, but that you should strive to moderate it for the sake of that great love you bear him. Be sure that in his present blessed state, where he awaits you confidently, he asks that you may receive a holy consolation, and that you may calm your grief and use your eyes for a better purpose than tears, your mind for more worthy tasks than mere sorrow. He has left you some precious pledges of your union-use your eyes for their benefit, and your mind for the raising and developing theirs. Do this for love of that cherished husband. Believe that it was his parting wish,-that he still requires it of you. All indulged grief may be natural to your earthly heart, which is still in this world, but it is altogether contrary to his heart, which is safely stored in the next world.

True love ever seeks to please its object, and therefore, for love of your husband, I bid you be comforted; lift up your heart, and take courage. Strive, if you can, to cast yourself before the Lord, accepting His

Will, and dwelling upon the thought of your dear one, who desires above all things to see you stedfast in firm Christian resolutions. So give yourself up wholly to the Heavenly guidance of the Saviour of your soul, Who will lead and comfort you, and will finally reunite you to your treasure, no longer as mere husband and wife, but as co-heritors of the Kingdom of Heaven, and as eternal and faithful lovers.

I have written hastily, almost without a moment's leisure, but my long-standing friendship for you and your husband would not let me be silent. May God ever be with you. Amen.

TO A LADY. ON THE DEATH OF HER SISTER.

WELL, my dear child, this is how one by one we are crossing the river Jordan, and entering into the Promised Land, to which God calls us one after another. Oh, Dear Jesus, there is not much in this world that we should wish to detain those we love very long here! I knew your good sister, not only by sight, but through certain spiritual intercourse which I had with her during my visit. It is about a year since I sent her the habit of the Third Order of Carmelites at her request; and at her reception